The Supreme Court on Tuesday criticised Indian Medical Association (IMA) President Dr RV Asokan for his remarks in an interview concerning the court’s ruling in the misleading advertisements case against Patanjali Ayurved, founded by Yoga guru Ramdev and his aide Balkrishna.
The IMA is the petitioner in the case, accusing Patanjali of making misleading claims about its products.
During the hearing, the bench of Justice Hima Kohli and Justice A Amanullah expressed disappointment with Dr. Asokan’s comments. “We would have expected more sense of responsibility from you… you can’t vent your feelings against the court in the press like this. What made you go suddenly like this?” Justice Kohli remarked.
Dr. Asokan offered an unconditional apology, but Justice Kohli questioned its sincerity. “Whether we should accept your statements after such damaging statements, you are the one who dragged the other side to the court, saying they are denigrating you, but when you are put to test…?” the Justice noted.
The bench also questioned why the IMA President did not issue a public apology and demanded to know what steps he had taken to rectify his statements following the interview.
Also Read: ‘But what were you doing?’: In Patanjali misleading ads case, Supreme Court ire now on IMA
“We are the first one to uphold the freedom of free speech. But there are times when there should be self-restraint. As IMA President, you should have had self-restraint. That’s the point! We didn’t see that in your interviews,” Justice Kohli emphasized.
Justice Amanullah added, “Dr Asokan, you are also a citizen of this country. The amount of criticism judges face, why don’t they react? Because personally we don’t have much of an ego, we are magnanimous. We are entitled to take action, but very rarely we do.”
The bench pointed out that judges exercise discretion with a sense of responsibility and that it was inappropriate for Dr. Asokan to criticize the court publicly.
“But that does not mean you go to town with this kind of comments. You cannot just sit on a couch and say anything about the court. What would you have done if the other side made these kinds of comments! You would have come running to this Court,” it said. The court described Dr. Asokan’s affidavit as “too little, too late.”
Senior Advocate PS Patwalia, representing Dr. Asokan, urged the court for relief. However, Justice Kohli retorted, “What is sauce for the goose, is sauce for the gander… You can’t say anything and everything and then meekly say he fell in error. Are you saying he fell into some trap?”
The IMA president’s interview has complicated the case against Patanjali, which has seen significant developments recently. Ramdev and Balkrishna had been previously admonished by the court for advertisements claiming to cure conditions like high blood pressure and diabetes, and their multiple apologies were rejected. Dr. Asokan’s remarks have now placed the IMA in a challenging position, with the next hearing scheduled for July 9.
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